The First Shot
by mischiefcantbemanaged
Summary: In this oneshot, James reminisces about when he asked Lily Evans out for the first time in seventh year and she actually agreed to give him a chance.


Lily pushed James against the wall, kissing him deeply. His glasses became askew, and his hair looked messier than usual from her aggressive behavior. He wrapped his arms around the redhead, returning the kiss with an equal amount of passion. She had taken him by surprise, as usually it was him who initiated most of the physical parts of their relationship. James' heart leapt every time he thought about the fact that she was actually his now, after years of being hopelessly in love with her . He'd never forget the day when she finally decided to give him a shot.

It had been a cold November afternoon. The second trip to Hogsmeade of the year was just a few days away, and James was determined to go on a date with Lily Evans. He had cleaned up his act over the past few months, being Head Boy and what not he knew that Dumbledore was expecting a lot from him. Fortunately for him, Lily had been named Head Girl, so he had a legitimate excuse to talk to her everyday, not that he brought up their duties that often in conversation.

James schemed with his friends the entire morning, thinking of the best way he could ambush Lily before they were to depart on the trip.

"So what's the plan so far, Padfoot?" James asked his fellow Gryffindor, plopping down on his bed.

"Well, Moony thinks it'd be best if we target Lily and Marlene together, but first we all need to show up to breakfast, and sit with them. That way you can start a conversation with Evans. Then, because I'm better with the girls than Moony or Wormtail, I'll ask Marlene if she wants to be my date for Hogsmeade. She won't be able to resist my charm, and then she'll bug the shit out of Evans to find someone to go with. Naturally, as you're one of my best mates, she'll suggest you, and since you'll be right there you can ask Evans," Sirius explained.

Smiling, James replied, "But how do you know Marlene will accept your invitation? And I don't think she'll lay into Eva- er, Lily, that very second about finding a date."

"I told you, she won't be able to resist me, mate," Sirius insisted. He then stood up from his bed and began searching for his wand, "and girls are complicated, you know that Prongs. They do things we don't understand. Even if McKinnon doesn't nag Evans about a date she will eventually. Just ask her. She won't flat out deny you because you'll be surrounded by people. She'll tell you that she doesn't know, and then later Marlene will tell her to accept because then we can have a nice double date."

James thought about what Sirius was saying. For once, his friend actually made sense. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you might be right Padfoot."

"'Course I am, when have I ever been wrong?" Sirius smirked as he pocketed his found wand. "Now, let's go gather up Moony and Wormtail and head to breakfast."

"I can think of many times you've been wrong," James argued, following him out of the dorm.

By the time the four of them got to the Great Hall, the Gryffindor table was almost full. James spotted Lily and Marlene towards the end, completely alone. It was like Merlin had set this up himself.

Sirius approached them first, with James on his heel. Remus and Peter wandered off to keep watch from the other end of the table, not wanting to crowd them.

"Good morning, ladies," Sirius greeted, sitting down and grabbing himself some food.

Lily eyed him suspiciously, as she buttered her toast. "What do you want?" she asked.

"These seats aren't taken, are they? You don't mind if James and myself sit here?" Sirius replied, deflecting her question.

"Go ahead," Marlene said, smiling politely. James sat down next to Sirus, and poured himself some pumpkin juice.

"So, Evans, what did you ever do with that fanged Frisbee we confiscated?" the Head Boy asked.

"I put it where all the other confiscated things go, like usual. Why?"

They continued their conversation as Sirius looked to Marlene, "So, d'you have any plans for Hogsmeade, Saturday?" he asked casually, leaning forward and brushing against her arm as he grabbed the salt.

"I don't in fact, why do you ask?" she replied with a flirtatious look.

"Well, I was just thinking you should go with me. We could explore the shops, get into trouble, maybe even stop in Madam Puddifoot's for a cup of tea," he winked at the mention of the teashop. Everyone knew that it was more famous for all the couples found there snogging than for the tea.

Marlene blushed, but quickly composed herself, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

"It's a date then!" Sirius exclaimed rather loudly, causing quite a few heads to turn in his direction. James felt his heart beating faster. Marlene had accepted, Sirius had been right about that; now would Lily do the same for him?

A few minutes passed and James still hadn't asked Lily to go with him. More than once Sirius kicked him under the table and shot him looks, which James tried his hardest to ignore. When there were only five minutes left of breakfast, the topic of Hogsmeade came up again. Marlene asked Sirius where they should meet, and it would be the perfect time for James to interject.

"Uh, Lily, you don't have plans for Hogsmeade either do you?" James couldn't believe how nervous he felt. He had asked Lily out hundreds of times over the past two years and never worried about what she said before, but this time felt different than the others.

"No, well I did. I was going to spend it with Marlene until your mate decided to claim her," Lily seemed annoyed, but not towards James, which was a good sign.

"Well you can spend it with me, if you'd like," the words left his mouth before he could convince himself not to say them.

"I-I really?" Lily seemed completely taken aback. "I guess, I mean, yes, I'd like that."

James beamed, his heart lifting, "Really?"

"Really," Lily smiled back, "you're not so much of a toerag anymore, Potter."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Evans."

"Good. It was one."


End file.
